Random thoughts from a Brit in the North West. Sometimes serious, sometimes not. Quite often curmudgeonly.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Spain's
1978, post Civil War settlement was not really designed for bad
times. And these are terrible times. They must be; the government's
just announced that it won't be increasing pensions in line with
inflation next year. Just a 1% increase against 3% inflation. Doesn't
sound a lot but it is if you're close to the bread line. It won't, of
course, much affect the legions of Spanish politicians and
businessmen who can afford to go and visit their cash in Andorra,
Liechtenstein and/or Andorra.

The
'78 system of Autonomous Communities (effectively regions) is
creaking and groaning, as Madrid tries to impose economies on
regional governments who've got used to spending big, particularly on
themselves and their friends. Yesterday's appeal to the
Constitutional Court was by Exremadura and Galicia about the planned
suspension/ abolition of subsidies for renewable energy projects.
Mainly solar, I guess. Today's resort to the Court is by The Basque
Country, which says it will ignore Madrid's diktat that they don't
give civil servants their month's bonus at Xmas. This is no way to
run a country.

One
of the problems, of course, is that some Regions have a better deal
with Madrid than others. The Basque Country enjoys the greatest
devolution – with its own Tax Office, for example – and Cataluña
comes next. Not that you'd know from the regualr wingeing from there.
There are inevitably regional jealousies even in the best of times
but, as I've said, these are decidedly not the best of times.
Building permits this year look like being around 50,000, compared
with nearly 900,000 in 2006. The 'motor' of the economy has been
taken off the road.

So,
Whither Cataluña? The party - ERC – which came second in Sunday's
elections, and which holds the key to the way forward, has said –
with great specificity – that it wants a referendum on independence
to take place on September 11, 2013. Which is
earlier that that proposed for Scotland, I believe. But these are
just opening shots in what will be a long skirmish, both within
Cataluña and between Barcelona and Madrid. Just what the uninspiring
Sr Rajoy wants as he tries to reform Spain while keeping the Brussels
and IMF Mandarins happy. Not forgetting Mrs Merkel. Still, things
could be worse; he could be the President of Israel.

Which
reminds me – I think I have a solution to the Middle East problem.
We should build on the “Two state” idea and divide the whole
region into as many states as it takes to keep sane people isolated
from the religious nuts on both sides. Jerusalem would belong to
everyone. Can't think why this obvious solution hasn't been
implemented.

Talking
of wars . . . Here's a day-warming story
from the last global conflagration: In 1942, a
British pilot and his navigator flew a Bristol Beaufighter plane at
window height down the Champs Élysée, dropped a French Tricolour on
the Arc de Triomphe, then strafed the Gestapo headquarters.
Impressive as this is, it would've been even more uplifting if
someone hadn't got the timing wrong and they'd been able to attack
their original target of the daily parade of Nazi troops. But the
Gestapo HQ was certainly a morale-boosting fallback.

6 comments:

So Spanish civil servants won’t get their “Christmas bonus” – first, is it really a bonus, which I understand to be something given or paid in addition to what is usual or expected. Without doubt, the 14 payments received by Spanish workers during the course of a year make up their annual salary and is computed as such by the respective employers as part of a person’s compensation package.

Being both usual and expected, the elimination of the payment is just another 7+% pay cut which with the previous 5% reduction makes for a total of 12% which may be acceptable if you are on the top end of the pay scale. Unfortunately, a high percentage of these people are on salaries not too much above the minimum wage and these cuts coupled with the increase in VAT make for a miserable situation for those people who are trying to offer the rest of the population a civil service, ranging from the military to medical to the town hall.

Yes and last week I heard of a (new?) distinction among civil servants between funcionarios and (?)personal laboral who get paid less and are easier to dispose of. See here on thishttp://economia.elpais.com/economia/2012/06/12/actualidad/1339528426_459542.html

Unfortunately, it is possible to have sat and have passed an opposition and because of what work is available, end up being employed on a temporary basis, with the inherent risk of being fired when the organization want to let you go.

As far as salaries falling below the minimum wage, my contention is that any reduction may only applied against monies above that level. At the same time, rather than allowing companies to employ people with no payment, they should be obliged to pay at least the minimum wage.